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Definition of elastic noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

elastic

noun
 
/ɪˈlæstɪk/
 
/ɪˈlæstɪk/
[uncountable]
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  1. material made with rubber, that can stretch and then return to its original size
    • This skirt needs some new elastic in the waist.
    Extra Examples
    • The elastic in these socks has gone.
    • The skirt is held up by a length of elastic around the waist.
    • an old skirt with loose elastic
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • loose
    • tight
    • hair
    • …
    … of elastic
    • length
    • piece
    elastic + verb
    • break
    • go
    • snap
    • …
    See full entry
    Word Originmid 17th cent. (originally describing a gas in the sense ‘expanding spontaneously to fill the available space’): from modern Latin elasticus, from Greek elastikos ‘propulsive’, from elaunein ‘to drive’.
See elastic in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
Check pronunciation: elastic

Nearby words

trait
noun
 
 
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